Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a children’s fantasy novel by Roald Dahl, following Charlie Bucket, a poor and kind-hearted boy whose life changes when he finds one of Willy Wonka’s rare Golden Tickets. The prize gives Charlie a chance to enter the mysterious chocolate factory, a place filled with inventions, sweets, strange rooms and rules that test each child who comes inside. As Charlie tours the factory with the other winners, the story contrasts greed, impatience and selfishness with patience, humility and wonder. Illustrated by Quentin Blake, the book combines playful imagination, dark humour and a moral fairy-tale structure, leaving the reader to discover what Willy Wonka is really searching for behind the gates of the factory.
Author: Roald Dahl
Publisher: Puffin
Year published: 2004
Number of pages: 189
Original language: English
Original title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Age range: 9+